The HalfBlood Prince: An Alternate Ending
by chairomori
Summary: HPNaruto Crossover Major spoilers for the sixth book! Instead of going after the third Horcrux with just Harry, Dumbledore also brought along a few shinobi. How might things have turned out different? COMPLETE!
1. One

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince OR Naruto!

WARNING! IF YOU HAVEN'T READ HPatHBP, THERE WILL BE MAJOR SPOILERS! SO IF YOU DON'T WANT TO HAVE THE ENDING THROWN AT YOU, TURN BACK NOW!

A/N: I don't know what possessed me to write this, I suppose it was the summer heat causing delusion and all that. I apologize for any grammatical errors, plot holes, if my words leave you with no clue what's happening, etc, etc. Oh yeah, and the conversation between Dumbledore and Harry is taken from the 6th HP book on page 550. And as always, corrections are appreciated. Now! Enough with my babbling! On with the fic!

The Half-Blood Prince: An Alternate Ending

Tsunade double checked to make sure no one was near before taking out a bottle of sake and pouring some into her cup. She direly needed some after recent events. Her old age must have been catching up on her for she had sworn that a strange old man with a long silvery beard and hair had just popped into her office and explained how he needed help before laying a scroll on her desk and popping back out. In it was a request for help. Apparently, this man was from a place called England and was the leader of a school that taught a bunch of students something called magic. What an old kook. She would have just ignored the request and thrown it at the bottom of her piles of papers if the payment wasn't so tempting. He was willing to offer one hundred gold galleons, whatever that was. It must have been the currency there. However strange and crazy it sounded, she was curious. Tsunade quickly hid her bottle of sake and called for one of her best teams.

* * *

Shikamaru tilted his head upwards and sighed. Being an ANBU member wasn't all that great. He was constantly being sent out to 'save this person,' 'kill that person,' 'protect this item.' In fact, e was so busy, he couldn't remember the last time he went cloud watching. Today was one of the rare days when he could just lay back and relax.

A puff of smoke appeared, followed by Naruto. "Oi! Shikamaru! We have to go to meet Baa-chan. We've got a mission!" With that he disappeared.

Shikamaru groaned. "We just got back from a mission yesterday!" Nevertheless, he managed to get up and meet Tsunade.

* * *

Tsunade watched in amusement at the different expressions on her team's faces. Excitement was all over Naruto's face, Shikamaru's was filled with annoyance, and Neji...well, Neji's face remained expressionless.

"Alright, I'm sorry for calling you guys so soon since you just finished a mission," although she didn't sound the least bit sorry, "but this is urgent. We have a last minute request from our client, a strange man named Albus Dumbledore wants you to accompany him on an outing to find an artifact. The only problem is that he's in the other side of the world."

"What? How do we get there? Are you crazy you-"

Tsunade held up her hand signaling for Naruto's silence. A few years ago, he would have ignored her, but now he clammed up. "Furthermore, a team from the Hidden Sand was also requested, though I am unsure whether you will be on the same mission." She looked at the clock hanging on a wall. "He wants you there in ten minutes. You'll be going using a 'portkey' a magical item. He'll explain the rest. Now, all of you hold on to this." A spool of thread was thrown at them. "It will transport you there. You better hang on tight. I've heard the journey is not very comfortable."

The three hurriedly put on their masks. Naruto donned his fox mask, Shikamaru wore his bat, and Neji put on a raven mask. A minute later, they felt their beings being pulled away. The last thing they saw was Tsunade.

* * *

"You're leaving the school tonight, and I'll bet you haven't even considered that Snape and Malfoy might decide to-"

"To what?" asked Dumbledore, his eyebrows raised. "What is it that you suspect them of doing, precisely?"

"I...they're up to something." said Harry, and his hands curled into fists as he said it. "Professor Trelawney was just in the Room of Requirement, trying to hide her sherry bottles, and she heard Malfoy whooping, celebrating! He's trying to mend something dangerous in there and if you ask me, he's fixed it at last and you're about to just walk out of school without-"

"Enough," said Dumbledore. He said it quite calmly, and yet Harry fell silent at once; he knew he had finally crossed some invisible line. "Do you think that I have once left the school unprotected during my absences this year? I have not. Tonight , when I leave, there will again be additional protection in place. Please do not suggest that I do not take the safety of my students seriously, Harry."

"I didn't-" mumbled Harry, a little abashed but Dumbledore cut across him.

"I do not wish to discuss the matter any further."

Harry bit back his retort, scared that he had gone too far, that he had ruined his chance of accompanying Dumbledore, but Dumbledore went on, "Do you wish to come with me tonight?"

"Yes," said Harry at once.

"Very well, then: Listen," Dumbledore drew himself up to his full height. "I have hired two teams of experienced warriors called shinobi. To say they are like aurors would be an understatement. One team will be staying here to guard the castle, and another will be accompanying us."

Harry sighed in relief. Now Snape or Malfoy wouldn't be able to try anything tricky. "Who are they? When will they be here?"

"We will meet them at the entrance hall. Now, I want you to go fetch your Invisibility Cloak and meet me there in five minutes."

Harry ran to the Griffindor common room and up to the dormitory to fetch his cloak.

"What did he want?" Hermione asked when he went back down.

"Hey, listen. I'm going to find a horcrux with Dumbledore. Malfoy and Snape might try something, so you have to be careful." He ran out before they could ask anything.

When he arrived at the entrance hall, he found Dumbledore taking to three people. Their attire was strange. They wore black cloaks and masks.

"Ah, Harry! I was just explaining everything to these three. The other team I requested is running a little late so we'll have to wait a bit longer that planned..." Dumbledore frowned.

"Hold on! Wait a minute!" One of the masked shinobi cut in. "Are you expecting us to believe that you people fight with sticks-"

"Wands," another with a bat mask corrected.

"-whatever, and that there's a weirdo out there who split his souls into seven parts?"

"Naruto, it's not that different from Orochimaru and his immortality jutsu." The last guard said. He had long hair that he tied back.

Harry looked at them in disdain. He made conclusions judging their voices and size. "_They're_ those great guards you were talking about? It's_ them_? But they don't sound any older than I am!"

"Harry-" Dumbledore started but was cut off.

"I'll handle this old man." Naruto turned towards Harry. "Listen. I don't like the tone you were using when you referred to us. You better show some respect of we'll pound it into you. Got it kid?"

Shikamaru groaned. Naruto was definitely not a mediator.

Neji stepped in. "What he means is that we are highly trained for this, and we assure you, you have nothing to worry about."

"Right." Harry sounded doubtful.

"Oh great, lazy's team is here." A woman with a fan tied on her back appeared, followed by a boy with a gourd and another with three scrolls.

Harry was struck dumb. He hadn't heard the three enter the castle at all. What king of magic did they use?

"Hello to you too, Temari," Shikamaru replied.

Neji held his hand up in recognition. His other held Naruto's mouth shut to prevent him from shouting his greetings.

"Well, now that you're here, we can leave now." Dumbledore took out a roll of parchment. "Everything you need to know is in here." He handed it to Gaara. "I am entrusting the safety of this castle to you, and I hope you won't attract any attention from my staff. Come along now." Dumbledore waved for Shikamaru, Naruto, Neji, and Harry to follow before any other interactions could be made.

Gaara waited for them to leave before opening the scroll and scanning its contents.

"What does it say?" Temari asked.

He shrugged and tossed it to her.

"Hmm. The old man wants us to guard these three places: The Room of Requirement, his office, and the entrance. I'll stay here."

"I'll go to the office, is there a map?" Kankuro asked.

"Yeah, there's three. And there's a letter for each of us in case we get caught by one of his staff." Temari handed the items out to her brothers. "Gaara, you get the Room of Requirement. It's on the seventh floor."

He stalked off without a word.

"You know what?" Kankuro said before heading off, " I almost with that someone will attack. I've been meaning to get into a good fight."

Temari sighed. Out of all the people out there, whey did she have to be stuck with the two boys?

Gaara paced down the hallways. This was a strange place. He stopped and rubbed his eyes. Was that painting moving? He rubbed his eyes agin before looking. Sure enough, little people were seated on a table eating. His eyes widened and he hurried down the hall before he saw any other strange things.

* * *

"Hey! Old man!" Naruto called.

"Keep it down." Neji hissed at him. "No one is supposed to know we're here."

"But I wanna know how far we have to walk!" he whined.

Neji let out a frustrated sigh. "Just shut up!"

The three shinobi were walking a few feet behind their client. The Potter kid had donned a strange cloak and disappeared from sight, but the shinobi could hear his steps and see traces of disturbed stones.

Soon they reached a place called Hogsmeade. The old man exchanged a few words with a woman inside a shop.

Shikamaru was suspicious with her. Her movements seemed a bit...off. The untrained eye would never have caught it, but years of experience told him she was not herself.

"Neji, use your Byakugan on that woman and tell me what you see."

Neji started a sequence of seals. "Byakugan." He stared at her. "It's strange. Her chakra pathways are almost normal, but there seems to be an outside force in it."

"An outside force? Chakara? Pathways? What are you talking about?" asked Harry, still invisible.

"We think that lady is being controlled." Shikamaru explained. "Should we take her down?"

"I don't think so, Our mission is to guard the old man and the boy while they go get the Horcrux thing. We shouldn't attack unless she does something." Neji gestured to Dumbledore. "He's back."

True enough, he was. Dumbledore turned to Harry. " I don't suppose you can apparate yet, Harry?"

"Yes, but I haven't got my license."

Alright then. Everyone hand on to me tightly now."

They obeyed. Naruto and Harry held on to his left arm while Neji and Shikamaru held onto his right. In a moment, it was as if they had plunged into a vacuum cleaner. The next moment, they were standing out on a cliff facing the ocean.

* * *

"Should we really be doing this? I mean, I don't think Harry will appreciate us going through his things while he's not around." Hermione reasoned.

Ron casually threw the suggestion aside. "He told us to be careful didn't he? Anyway, I'm just checking the Marauder's Map for anything suspicious." He found the map and murmured the incantation before scanning it. "Malfoy's not on the map again. Must be in the Room of Requirement." He looked again and gasped. "Hermione!"

"What is it?" She ran over to the map.

"These three people." He pointed to the seventh floor, the entrance, and Dumbledore's office. "They're not from here. I don't recognize their names."

Hermione took the map. "Do you thing they're planning something?"

"I don't know. But I think we should tell someone."

"Alright, let's go to Professor McGonagall."

They hurried down to the common room and out to the hallways.

* * *

Gaara was pacing the hallway of the seventh floor. While the map in his hand clearly said the Room of Requirement was here, he couldn't find it. Was the old man playing a joke on him? His attention shifted when a door suddenly appeared from nowhere and creaked open. He disappeared and reappeared on the ceiling, hopefully out of view.

Out of the door came a pale, blond haired boy followed by several people wearing black robes.

He silently commanded his sand to pour out of his gourd and crawl forward. Unfortunately, the boy was looking the whole place up and down and spotted him. He took out a strange powder and threw it around. Soon, everything was pitch black.

'_Uh_ _oh_.' Gaara thought.


	2. Two

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Naruto, duh.

Comments to Reviews(Thanks for all of them!):

snakpak - Yes Dumbledore died in book six, and as far as I know right now, there won't be anyone from the Akatsuki involved.

No 1 You Know - I'll try to put in your suggestions, I don't know it Snape will die though. And as for Gaara and his third eye, the stuff that was thrown was the Weasley twin's Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder, so not much could see through it, as you read, the spells didn't work.

Darak - Err, good point, I've gone back and added something explaining it in chapter one, and about the trap thing. If I had let the nins stop her, which I had originally been planning on doing, it would have ruined the whole end of the book and the story would be much shorter, because she was the one who told Malfoy that Dumbledore left. So, for the plot's sake, I left her. Oh yeah, and the Hokage is a female.

Chapter Two

The next moment, they were standing out on a cliff facing the ocean.

"You may come out of the cloak now, Harry," said Dumbledore. He waved his wand over the edge of the cliff, "_Lumos_." and gestured for everyone to look down. There was a small hole in the cliff, under the water. "We will have to go down and swim." He started to climb slowly down with Harry trailing him.

The three nins, meanwhile, were recovering from their first time apparating. Shikamaru was still feeling queasy. '_These people have great methods of taking them where they wish, but they still need to work on the feeling_.' They sent chakra to their legs to walk down the face of the cliff.

Harry stared in amazement. '_Who are these people?_'

When they reached the bottom of the cliffs, they dove down into the ocean and swam to the cave.

"Yes, this is the place. There are traces of magic here," Dumbledore began to feel the walls of the cave.

"What are you doing, Professor?" Harry wondered.

"I'm looking for an entrance. It is probably concealed."

Neji activated his Byakugan and looked around. "I can see a weak point in the cave. It's over that way," he pointed to a place on the wall.

"Thank you, you've made my job much easier," Dumbledore pointed his wand toward the spot, but apart from an outline of the entrance appearing, not much else happened. He examined it a little longer.

Shikamaru strolled over and looked at it. "I do not quite understand how things work around here, but usually, there are tags placed somewhere around that keep us out. However, I don't seem to see any."

"No, no. I think I understand now. A crude method. There must be an offering of blood to enter. How very vulgar," he took out a silver knife and was going to cut himself when Naruto stopped him.

"Hey, now. There is nothing 'vulgar' or 'crude' about using blood to get things. I'm insulted. I'll offer my own blood."

"Oh yes, I forgot, such things are normal in you're line of work. I apologize for my ignorance," Dumbledore said sedately.

Naruto grumbled something about 'strange, old men' before biting his thumb and smearing the blood on the wall.

"How can he just bite his thumb like that? Doesn't it hurt?" asked Harry.

"Actually, it's normal. A lot of things require blood offerings where we come from. Biting your fingers cause you to lose a minimum amount of blood so most use their thumbs. It doesn't hurt that much. You get used to pain," Shikamaru explained.

The rock face soon disappeared and was replaced by darkness. The five proceeded forward and found themselves surrounded in eerie green light, standing near black water.

"Be careful not to touch the water," Dumbledore warned.

"Professor, if the Horcrux is here, why can't we just use a summoning charm?" Harry asked.

"An excellent idea. Why don't you try it?"

"Okay then. _Accio Horcrux_." he waved his wand. Instantly, something jumped out of the water and then fell back into it. Harry was shocked. "What was that?"

"Something to keep us from easily getting the Horcrux. I think, that the Horcrux itself is in the middle of the lake," he turned to Neji. "You seem to have good eyes. Can you spot it?"

Neji, who had still had his Byakugan activated, looked at the lake. "There's a small piece of land in the middle of the lake. It holds a cup, but I can't see what's inside of it." he looked around the lake. "There are dead bodies inside the lake."

"Inferi," Dumbledore stated.

"That was the thing that jumped out of the water when I tried the Summoning Charm," Harry realized.

"Mr. Hyuuga," Neji cringed at the peculiar title, "if you would please look around for any more traces of magic or anything unusual?"

Once again, he looked around until he saw a strange field of what seemed to be raw chakra. In the center of it was a thick cord of raw chakra, twisted about. Neji took out a kunai and threw it at the cord. A rattling sound was heard. Cautiously, he went forward and grasped the chain. He looked at Dumbledore for what to do next.

"You found it," Dumbledore went closer to Neji. "Ah, yes," he tapped Neji's hand with his wand and a chain appeared. Then he tapped the chain and it started to pull a small boat from the water.

"But, it won't fit all of us," Harry said.

"Yes, it will. Just don't drop us," Naruto ordered. "We can use Henge no Jutsu."

"What's that?"

"It's a technique, similar to your spells, that allow us to change our appearance," Shikamaru explained.

"Oh," Harry made a mental note to ask Hermione if she'd heard of these people before.

The three made a handseal and said, "Henge no Jutsu." Soon, they had all turned into little mice. Harry picked them up.

"Harry, you first," Dumbledore pointed to the boat. "And be careful not to touch the water." He got in after him and the boat started moving towards a small island.

Along the way, Harry could see parts of human bodies. He was disgusted at the sight of them. Soon they arrived at the island, which was really a large rock. He let the three mice out, and with a puff of smoke, they were the three guards again.

"There," Dumbledore pointed at the center of the rock. There was a small basin filled with glowing, green liquid.

"The Horcrux is in there?"

* * *

Soon, everything was pitch black.

'Uh oh.' Gaara thought.

He heard footsteps coming out of the door. These people were so clumsy; they didn't even bother with stealth. Gaara sent a handful of sand forward towards one of the footsteps and grabbed at it. He was rewarded with a bloodcurdling shriek. He continued to grasp in the darkness and catch running people. Then, a thought occurred to him. What if he accidently killed one of the old man's student's? Normally, he wouldn't care, but a specific request was made that no harm should come to any student, and the Kazekage was very interested in the payment that was due. Gaara changed tactics and started to fling hardened sand instead. A hurt student was better than a dead one -for the old man at least. When he was sure there were no longer any conscious beings around, he groped around in the darkness until he reached the staircase, which thankfully had not been affected with the blinding powder

'_I have to find Temari and Kankuro and tell them what happened_,' Gaara took out the map and summoned a cloud of sand. He rode all the way to the entrance where he met Temari. On the way, he heaerd a stern voice telling him to halt, but he ignored it. "Temari, some people broke into the school."

"Already? It seems that Kankuro got his wish." she took out her fan, "Let's go get him and chase them down."

"Stop right there!" A tired, strict voice called.

* * *

Hermione and Ron used the Marauder's Map to locate Professor McGonagall and quickly ran towards her on the second floor.

"Professor!" Hermione called.

She turned around. "What are you doing out of bed at this hour?"

"Professor, some people are here that weren't here before. We don't recognize them," Ron panted.

"What do you mean?"

"Here," Hermione showed her the map and pointed to the three locations. When she reached the Room of Requirements, she gasped. "There are all these people coming out! Look. Greyback, Amycus, Gibbon-"

Professor McGonagall's jaw dropped. "We must warn the other members of the staff and the Order. Hurry," she started to turn towards the staircase when a blob of something flew by. "Halt! Stop!" It ignored her and left. "Ron, go find the others. Hermione and I will follow that, that _thing_."

Ron took the Marauder's Map and they quickly ran separate ways. The teacher and student pair tried to tail the blob, but it was too fast and was soon out of sight; but they kept running down the staircase. They finally reached it and found two strangers ready to get on it.

"Stop right there!" shouted Professor McGonagall.

* * *

"Yes, I believe it lies inside the basin," Dumbledore move towards it and reached inside before anyone could stop him, but a barrier stopped him from touching the liquid. "It seems the only way to get it is to drink it."

"Let Naruto drink it. His body is immune to most poisons." Neji suggested. He had been on the same ANBU team with Naruto for a year, and he never suffered any affects from poison used by the enemy. It was strange but useful. He had always thought it to be a blood limit, until one day Naruto had decided to come clean and tell him and Shikamaru. It was a bit of a nasty shock at first, but he had agreed to keep the secret.

"Hey, that's not nice!" Naruto pouted.

"It's true Naruto. And don't act like that in front of out clients." Shikamaru commanded.

Naruto drew in a breath. "Fine then." He took off his fox mask and walked towards the bowl.

Harry was surprised at how young Naruto looked. He was correct after all. These people were no older that himself. Now he was even more anxious to get answers about them.

"Very well," Dumbledore waved his wand and conjured up a cup. "Here."

Naruto took it and dipped it in the basin, then he took a small sip and shuddered. "It tastes awful." he cringed his nose. "Yup, I think there's something in it."

Neji hit his head. "We want you to drink it, not your opinion."

Naruto shot him a glare that didn't affect him in the least. "I should ask Kyuubi to swallow you." But he couldn't do that so he drank the rest of the liquid and refilled it until the whole basin was empty. At the bottom was a locket. Neji took it and handed it to Dumbledore.

No sooner that the locket left the basin, the dead bodies of the Inferi began to rise and move towards them. Shikamaru took out handfuls of kunai and threw it at them, but they kept moving. '_Well, they are dead_.' He started a few handseals and used KageMange no Jutsu to hold them. "Hurry and run." he told Dumbledore and Harry. "We'll hold them off."

"That won't be necessary," Dumbledore took out his wand and a ring of fire soon surrounded them, scaring the inferi away. "They are afraid of fire."

Quickly, they made their way to the boat. Harry climbed in with the three shinobi, who had turned into mice again, and Dumbledore climbed in after, the ring of fire still protecting them from the inferi. When they reached the other side, Naruto ran ahead of them to open the sealed entrance with his blood. They quickly made their way outside and out of the cave.

"I will apparate us back. Harry, put your Invisibility Cloak back on and hang on tight now," Dumbledore said. Soon, they experienced the same feeling as before, and then, with a pop, they were in back in Hogsmeade. "A successful mission."

"Someone's coming," Neji said. The three shinobi disappeared into the shadows as the woman from before ran towards them.

"Albus! Albus!" she called. "The school. The Dark Mark!"

"What are you talking about Rosmerta?"

She frantically pointed towards Hogwarts and the Astronomy Tower. Dumbledore turned towards it and his face paled. There, high above, was the Dark Mark.

* * *

A/N: Hope you liked this chapter, sorry if it's too short. As always, please R&R. 


	3. Three

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Harry Potter.

Thank you to everyone who reviewed!

**snakpack** - Thanks for the correction. This is going to be a short story so I'm sorry to say that there will be no other characters appearing, although I wanted to have maybe the Akatsuki involved in it with this behind the scenes thing. Unfortunately, this will be a pure alternated ending as the title suggests. As for pairings, I might make it a ShikaTemari, but it'll probably be hints. The first chapter sort of has a hit of it. Sorry if I don't meet your expectations. :(

**Silverchild of the winds **- Er, basically, yeah. In my opinion, Harry doesn't really do anything worthwhile. I mean, he helps Dumbledore drink that potion and gets him back to Hogwarts, but that's about it. Other than that, he only gets his butt kicked by Snape, so the shinobi are there to make everyone's lives easier.

**Peter Kim** - You'll be getting your wish...kinda. I'm trying to incorporate people's suggestions into this fic, so rest assured, there will be squishing.

**Saico - **The reply to your review is below. I just had a teeny question. You don't have to answer though, but are you Cambodian? It's just a guess because saico means beef in it, and I was wondering if it was just a coincidence or something...hee

**Saico **and **EVERYONE ELSE READING THIS FIC! - **I apologize if this story seems rushed and for all those holes in there. It's just that I'm trying to finish this as quickly as possible. I never really wanted to do this in the first place, but it just kept popping into my mind while I was working on _Bloodlines and Demons_ and _Arisen _so I needed to get it out of my head. I also apologize for the long wait, this fic won't be very long, I think there's only about maybe three or four chapters left. I'll also be posting a sneak preview of _Arisen_, the HP fic I've been working on with the last chapter! Because of the long wait, the next chapter to this fic will probably be up either tomorrow or the day after. Again, sorry for any inconveniences!

A/N: The part with Dumbledore and Malfoy is the same as how J.K. Rowling wrote it, starting on pages 584, but I worded a few things differently and cut some stuff out because it was getting rather long. If you read the book, you can pretty much scroll past that part, I don't think you'll miss anything major...that is, I THINK. -chairomori

Chapter Three

"How long has the Dark Mark been up there?" Dumbledore inquired.

"Only a few minutes I think, I-" Rosmerta stopped and gasped in surprise when she felt the cold steel edge press against her neck.

"Mr. Hyuuga, what are you doing?" Dumbledore turned sternly to Neji, who had silently crept up and threatened the woman with a kunai.

"Professor Dumbledore-san, there is a strange force inside this woman. We think she may be under another's influence and may be misleading you," Shikamaru drawled.

"The Imperius Curse? Ah, yes. That would explain," Dumbledore drew his wand out and muttered something while swishing his wand around. Rosmerta suddenly collapsed. "That will have freed her from the curse. We must go tot the Astronomy tower now. I'm sure Rosmerta wouldn't mind if we borrowed her brooms."

"Brooms? What do you need them for? I thought you were in a hurry to get to the tower, not clean!" Naruto shouted.

"It's how we fly," Harry explained.

"We'll go another way," Neji bit his thumb. "Kuchiyosei no jutsu." A large, black raven suddenly appeared under them. "Torichii, please fly us to the highest point of the tower."

Harry's eyes widened. "How'd you do that? This bird id gigantic. It appeared out of nowhere!"

"It's a summoning," Shikamaru explained, "we all can summon. I can call bats, and he," he pointed at Naruto, "can summon frogs."

"Wicked, but how come his mask is a fox if he summons toads? I mean, you and Mr. Hyuuga wear masks that match your summons."

"That's...he's just more of a fox person, that's all."

Naruto suddenly remembered something. He forgot his mask in the cave! Tsunade was going to kill him. It was pretty expensive.

"I wish to talk to you four," Dumbledore said. "I want it to appear that I am alone when we arrive at the tower, so if you could stay out of sight unless the situation becomes dire and it seems that I will die...?"

"We will stay away and observe from a distance. If at one point, you are in trouble, we will help." Shikamaru agreed.

"Very well, we are here," Dumbledore stepped into the tower, and the door suddenly flew open.

"Expelliarmus!" Someone shouted.

* * *

"Stop right there!" shouted Professor McGonagall.

As they didn't look like they were going to stop, Hermione pointed her wand at the girl. "_Locomotor Mortis!_"

The girl, Temari, opened her fan and waved it effortlessly. The spell was blown back and hit a painting. The little people inside hurriedly rushed to the neighboring picture. "Gaara, just hurry and get Kankuro to where the trouble is, I'll explain to there two."

He nodded and lifted himself onto the sand.

"Hermione, help me stop him!" McGonagall shouted. _"Impedimenta_!"

Hermione waved her wand. "_Wingardium Leviosa!_"

But once again, Temari jumped in the way and deflected the spells with her wand. Gaara sped off to Dumbledore's office where Kankuro was. Temari closed her fan and reappeared behind Hermione and McGonagall, with her fan's sharp edge pressed behind them.

"We were hired by the old man, Dumbledore-san, to guard and protect this castle and its inhabitants," she assured.

"And how do we know you are not lying? Professor Dumbledore didn't say anything about hiring anyone."

"He gave us a letter to give to anyone we encountered. He wanted us to remain out of sight unless something happened. Here," she tossed a letter to McGonagall and pulled her fan back.

Professor McGonagall warily opened the letter and read it thoroughly twice through. "It looks genuine," she sniffed, "Very well. We must assist the others then." They hurried back up the staircase to where they last saw the Death Eaters gathering on the Marauder's Map.

Temari was partly annoyed with the old woman. '_She thinks she can boss me around like she's superior. Please, I could beat her any day_.' Nevertheless, she followed her up the stairs. Meanwhile, Gaara was flying toward Kankuro, no longer bothering to hide his presence. Speed mattered now. On the way, he passes a redhead who he thought he'd already passed at least twice previously. Gaara shook his head. This castle was having strange effects on him. He couldn't wait to just finish the annoying mission and go home.

When he finally reached Dumbledore's office, he found Kankuro already engaged in battle, pathetically fumbling around with a child, who was - he was sure - the redhead that should have been at least another floor or two below him.

* * *

Kankuro grunted in annoyance. He was only using Karasu to battle the red haired kid because he looked like a student. The kid just didn't back down.

Ron shook with anger at Kankuro. He had arrived through a hidden passageway to find Lupin unconscious and the black, hooded freak shooting something from a hideous puppet at a Death Eater, according to the Marauder's Map. The stake, or whatever it was, impaled the Death Eater straight in the chest and pushed him into a wall.

"You monster! Who are you? Why'd you kill Lupin?" he pointed to the unconscious man on the ground.

"Uh, kid, I didn't kill him, and I don't think he's dead," Kankuro pointed out.

"Well, I won't let you kill him. I'll stop you right here! _Petrificus Totalus!_"

Kankuro saw the spark heading towards him and had enough sense to stay out of its way. "Look, kid, I didn't touch the guy. It was that man over there!" he reasoned, not wanting to harm th eold man's pupil.

"Yeah, right!" Ron shouted, angry that Kankuro had dodged hid spell. _"Stupefy!_"

"You don't understand, kid!" Kankuro jumped out of the way. "That old man, Dumbledore-san, sent me here!"

"Hah! And I work for You-Know-Who! _Impedimenta!_"

"Actually," he rolled away, "I Don't-Know-Who." '_Dang, why did this hallway have to be so narrow? I can't jump up and stop him from behind_.'

"_Reducto!_"

Kankuro ducked as the wall next to him exploded. "Look kid, I have a letter! I'll prove it to - Oh, Gaara! Great, you're here! (He'd never thought he'd say that) Help me with this guy won't you?"

Ron turned around to see who he was talking to and was engulfed in sand. A boy with crimson hair, deeper than himself approached. Ron shuddered when he saw his eyes. _'This is it, I'm going to die._' He closed his eyes and prepared for the worse.

"What Kankuro said was true. The Professor Dumbledore hired us to guard and protect his castle," Gaara unfolded a letter and shoved it in Ron's face while releasing him from the sand. "Read."

Ron quickly skimmed the letter. "Oh, uh, heh. Sorry about the misunderstanding, mate," He grinned meekly at Kankuro. "But then, how'd he end up there? He pointed at Lupin.

"I told you! That guy," Kankuro nodded to the Death Eater, "did something to him, and he fell unconscious! Stubborn brat."

"I said sorry!" Ron went over to Lupin. _"Rennervate!_"

Lupin started to stir. He opened his eyes and rubbed his head. "That you Ron?"

"Yeah, what happened?"

"I was hit unawares with the Stunning Charm," Lupin got up and continued to massage his temple, "on my head."

"Ouch, that must feel terrible."

"People are attacking the school," Gaara interrupted quietly.

"What!"

"I _said_ people are attacking the school," he repeated through gritted teeth, tired of talking so much in one day.

Lupin turned and saw the impaled Death Eater. "W-who did that?"

"Me. Now, enough chit chat, let's move," Kankuro ran past them and jumped on Gaara's sand, you coming?"

* * *

Dumbledore's wand flew away. "Well done, Draco. You managed to disarm me. Is there anyone else her? Or are you acting alone?" he asked the intruder.

Malfoy looked around the room. "There're Death Eaters here. I managed to bring them in. Right under your nose!"

"Ah. Very good. And where are they now, may I ask?"

"They're downstairs fighting with some of your guards. I came ahead. I-I have a job to do."

"Well, then, you must get on and do it my dear boy," Malfoy stared at him. Outside, Harry wondered what it was he had to do. His theory about Malfoy had been right after all. "Draco, Draco, you are not a killer."

"How do you know?" he defended. "You don't know what I'm capable of. You don't know what I've done."

"On the contrary. You almost killed Katie Bell and Ronald Weasley. You have been trying to kill me all year. Forgive me, Draco, but they have been feeble attempts...So feeble, to be honest, that I wonder whether your heart has really been into it."

It had been! And tonight..." his voice drifted as he heard a scream.

"Someone is putting up a good fight, but tell me, how did you manage to introduce Death Eaters into my schoo.?" When he did nothing, Dumbledore continued. "Are you afraid to act until they join you?"

"I'm not afraid! It's you who should be!"

"But why? I do not believe you will kill me. Killing is not as easy as the innocent believe. (Outside, on a black rave, Shikamaru and Neji prevented Naruto from shouting other wise.) But while we wait for your friends, why don't you tell me how you managed to smuggle them in?"

Malfoy took several deep breaths before starting. "I had to mend the Vanishing Cabinet that no one's used for years. There's another in Bogin and Burkes..."

Naruto was struggling against Shikamaru and Neji. "Just promise to keep quite!" he nodded and they let him go. Naruto crossed his arms and fumed. "What's he talking about? I could kill that kid right now, and I'm innocent, aren't I?" No one answered him. "Well?" more silence. "Whatever." He turned his attention to Harry, who was listening intently. Anything new?"

"Yeah, Rosmerta _was_ being controlled, by Malfoy. And Dumbledore told Malfoy off for saying 'Mudblood.' They set off the Dark Mark to get him up there fast and, hold on, someone's...someone's dead!"

Suddenly, a loud shriek was heard

"Now, let us discuss your options, Draco, there is still time," said Dumbledore.

"_My_ options! I'm standing here with a wand - about to kill you!"

"My dear boy, let us have no more pretense of that. If you were going to kill me, you would have done it when you first disarmed me, and wouldn't have stopped for this little chit chat of ways and means."

"I haven't got any options! I've got to do it! He'll kill me! He'll kill my whole family!" he panicked.

"I appreciate the difficulty of your situation. I never confronted you before, because I knew you would have been murdered if Lord Voldemort knew I suspected you. You are lucky your unintentional victims have survived...I can help you, Draco."

Malfoys's wand started to shake. "No you can't. No one can. He told me to do it or he'll kill me. I haven't got a choice."

"He can't kill you if you're dead. We can hide you more completely that you imagine. As for your mother, she can be hidden as well. No one would be surprised if you died. As for your father, he is safe in Azkaban. When the time comes, we'll protect him too. Draco, you are not a killer."

Malfoy didn't say anything. His wand was still trembling, but it slowly dropped a bit.

* * *

Temari banged her fists on an invisible barrier. _'Dammit! I run up all this way, only to be blocked_!' Below her, a mass of people were fighting. She noticed four of them break loose from the pack and head up towards her. Temari took her fan and swung it at them. _"Kamaitachi!_" A blast of wind blew towards the four.

"Protego!" The wind was reflected and headed back towards Temari. She recived it full force.

'_Uh. Looks like I'll have to defend for now_.' she readied her fan. _'Where are Gaara and Kankuro?'_

The four all shouted the same spell. "_Crucio!_" But she waved her fan and sent them all back. They quickly ran out of the way, nodding to each other, and raised their wands again. _"Stupefy!_" two shouted. A few seconds later, the other two did the same.

Temari waved the two spells away, but was left open as two more appeared and hit her straight in her chest. She screamed as her body flew backwards. Her head crashed into the invisible barrier and she fell unconscious.


	4. Four

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Naruto, just as I cannot use magic and jutsu to make my life so much easier.

Thank you for all your wonderful reviews!

**snakpak** - Thank you! Weeps from compliment...

**christieelise** - Hmm, I'll try to make it HHr for you. Maybe at the ending.

**Peter vKIm **- I don't think I'm going to have Draco die...it's not completely impossible though. As for Narcissa...you'll see.

**Silverchild of the winds** - I'm sorry that Harry doesn't seem to be there. It's just that I have a hard time putting him in there, so I make him kind of like a spectator.

A/N: Again, the part containing the arrival of the four Death Eaters is taken almost word for word from the book, page 592. Also, sorry if the spacing between paragraphs is kind of messed up. My computer screwed up everything and clumped them together so I had to go back and manually space it. This chapter is pretty short, and I don't know when the next one will be out. I have to get ready for school. Big long sigh.

Chapter Four

_Temari waved the two spells away, but was left open as two more appeared and hit her straight in her chest. She screamed as her body flew backwards. Her head crashed into the invisible barrier and she fell unconscious._

Gaara, Kankuro, Lupin, and Ron arrived quickly by means of the Marauder's Map and Gaara's sand. They flew above the masses of witches and wizards, towards the staircase where Temari was supposed to be when they heard a scream. They turned in time to see Temari hit what seemed to be a wall of air.

"Temari!" Kankuro ran over to her.

Gaara angrily glared at the four who he suspected had hurt _his_ sister. He sent his sand in the form of sharp stakes at them. Wide eyes with horror, they ran past the barrier and up the staircase. The sand was defected. Gaara tried to follow them but was repelled. He turned to Kankuro. "How is she?"

"I'm not sure. I don't know what hit her, and I think she sustained a head concussion."

Gaara narrowed his eyes and stared at the battle. Angrily, he unceremoniously dumped Lupin and Ron on the floor and sent his sand to wrap around a large, blonde man, who was aiming his wand in various directions. He lifted the man into the air and tightened his grip. _Squish_. A deluge of blood fell from the sand. The man fell into an awkward heap of blood, bones, and skin when he let go.

Everyone, Death Eaters, the staff, and the Order alike stopped and stared in fear and amazement. The cowards looked at the corpse and started to back away nervously.

Gaara spoke in a voice that sent shivers down their spine. "I suggest that anyone who is not an intruder stand aside before I mutilate them."

A brave Death Eater aimed his wand at Gaara and shouted, "_Avada Kedavra_." A jet of green light headed towards Gaara but was stopped by his sand. It snaked its way to its next victim and snapped his head off.

The rest of the Death Eaters tried to retreat, but Gaara, guessing that anyone running was the enemy, pulled them back with his sand and immediately proceeded to kill them. Those who tried to fight back failed as sand blocked any spells thrown at him. Soon, the staircase was filled with blood, running down like rivers off the bodies Gaara squeezed to death.

The staff and Order had little trouble rounding up the surviving Death Eaters, as there were none left in the area. How Gaara was able to tell them apart was a mystery, as they didn't suffer any injuries from him.

"What happened here?" a sharp voice demanded.

"Severus, Death Eaters. We can't get past the barrier," McGonagall answered.

Snape immediately ran past her, and much to everyone's surprise, through the barrier.

* * *

Dumbledore's and Malfoy's conversation was suddenly interrupted when the door to the tower flew open. Four Death Eaters ran in.

"Dumbledore cornered!" one said to a woman who was probably his sister. "Dumbledore wandless, Dumbledore alone! Well done, Draco, well done!"

Outside, Harry experienced a dreaded feeling. If the Death Eaters were here, then what had happened downstairs?

"Don't worry," whispered Neji, "they only ran ahead. I can see it. They got past someone."

Harry nodded in relief.

In the tower, Dumbledore was greeting the four Death eaters, Among them was Fenrir Greyback, the werewolf. They were discussing his bloodthirstiness when several shrieks of terror were heard. Malfoy and Harry cringed.

A Death Eater turned to Malfoy. "Do it, Draco. Now, and quickly!"

Malfoy was showing less resolution than ever. He looked terrified as he stared into Dumbledore's calm face.

Suddenly, a series of bloodcurdling screams arose again. It lasted several long minutes.

Outside, Neji whispered, "Gaara," to Shikamaru and Naruto, who nodded in understanding.

Harry wondered what gaara meant.

Shikamaru turned to Harry. "When the time arrives, we want you to stay here, and don't move or speak just in case. Okay?"

"But why? Why can't I go in?"

"We don't want you to get in the way."

Suddenly, the screeching stopped, and everything was silent. The Death Eaters were left wondering who had won.

"Now, Draco, quickly!" said a brutal-faced Death Eater angrily.

But Malfoy's hand was shaking so badly that he could barely aim.

"Draco, do it or stand aside so one of us-" the woman who was speaking was interrupted as Snape burst in.

"Ah, Severus," Dumbledore greeted.

"We've got a problem, Snape, the boy doesn't seem able."

Snape said nothing. He walked forward and pushed Malfoy roughly out of the way. His face was contorted with revulsion and hatred.

"Severus?" Dumbledore questioned.

Snape raised his wand and pointed it directly at Dumbledore. "_Avada Kedavra!_"

A jet of green light shot from the end of Snape's wand and headed towards Dumbledore.

A hand wrapped around Harry's mouth to keep him from shouting.

"Kawarimi no Jutsu!"

The Death Eaters were shocked as Dumbledore's body disappeared and a stone as hit instead. Dumbledore himself, reappeared next to his wand and picked it up.

Shikamaru appeared behind Snape with a kunai at his neck. Neji moved towards him an d looked into his eyes while Naruto positioned himself I front of the four Death Eaters.

"Dumbledore!" shrieked the woman, "you planned this all along!"

"Yes, actually, I did."

"Your eyes are filled with hatred and fear," Neji started. He turned to Dumbledore, "Professor Dumbledore-san, this man, is not your ally as you may think. He deceives you. Even now, his eyes tell he is searching for an excuse for his actions."

"Yes, I realized that when he tried to kill me," Dumbledore said dryly. He turned to Snape, " And to think, I dearly trusted you, Severus."

"Well, it seems you have caught me," Snape slumped in defeat. It seemed he had given up, when he unexpectedly moved forward from the kunai and waved his wand in a semicircle. "_Sectumsempra!_"

Shikamaru leaped back to the side to avoid it while throwing his kunai and sustained a small cut on his left arm, but Neji had been caught unaware. He hadn't been able to fully read Snape, who as a master of Occlumency, and fell for his specious act. He received a cut across his chest, which began to leak with blood.

Meanwhile, Snape pulled the kunai Shikamaru had thrown from his arm and quickly sealed his wound with a spell.

"Neji!" Shikamaru yelled. He threw a fist of kunai at Snape.

"Protego!" Snape repelled the weapons and turned to Neji. "_Sectumsempra!_"

The four Death Eaters had also started to throw spells once Snape had took action, but Naruto interfered and started to play around with them while they grew frustrated.

Neji dodged Snape's second spell and yelled to Shikamaru. "I'm all right. I was just being careless." he assured.

"Kage Mange no Jutsu!" Shikamaru's shadow extended and caught Snape's, preventing him from doing anything else. "Kaga Kubi Shibari no Jutsu!" A shadowy hand crawled up his neck and snapped it.

"Really! There was no need for that!" Dumbledore protested. He waved his wand and sealed Shikamaru's and Neji's wounds.

Meanwhile, the four Death Eaters decided they had had enough. "It's no use, run!" they headed for the doorway.

"Tch. Cowards." Naruto formed a few seals. "Kage Bunshin so Jutsu." Another Naruto appeared and they both ran towards the four Death Eaters with a blue swirl in each hand. "Rasengan!" They killed the four instantly.

Dumbledore shook his head. "You didn't have to kill them, you know."

"Yeah, but it's easier than keeping them alive," said Naruto.

A slight whimper drew their attention. Malfoy lay huddled at the same spot where Snape had shoved him, eyes widened at the scene and shaking with fright.

"Hey, old man, what do you want us to do with him?" Naruto stepped closer to Malfoy, who in turn, inched away.

"Ah, yes, we still must discuss your options, Draco. But first, we must check on everyone else," Dumbledore turned to go when he remembered something. "Oh, I'm so sorry, Harry. I almost forgot you. You can come in now."

"I'll get him," Neji said. "I had to paralyze him to keep him from screaming. He thought we forgot about the plan," he jumped out a window and landed on Torichii several feet below. "It's over now." he struck a point on the back of Harry's neck.

Harry found he could move again. "What happened?"

"The four 'Death Eaters' and the other man are dead," Neji lifted him through the window before leaping in himself. The summon vanished in a puff of smoke.

Harry took off the Invisibility Cloak and observed the room. Snape lay on the floor, his head twisted in a strange angle. Near the doorway, the four Death Eaters were sprawled in their blood. He felt slightly nauseous at the sight.

"Well, shall we go?" asked Dumbledore. He opened the door. "After you," he announced to everyone.

Harry, Neji, and Shikamaru went out first. Naruto grabbed the collar of Malfoy and pushed him after them. Dumbledore followed and shut the door. When they went down, they saw Professor McGonagall and Lupin waiting for them. Harry was mortified at the sight of the blood across the stairs and wall. Suddenly, his head hit something.

"Ow!" he rubbed it.

"Professor Dumbledore!" Professor McGonagall put her hands on the barrier. "We tried everything, but we couldn't get through!"

"It's all right, Minerva. Draco, if you would?" Dumbledore addressed him.

Malfoy raised his quivering wand and muttered something. Harry felt the air and found he was able to get past.

"Where's Severus?" asked Lupin.

"Dead," said Dumbledore.

"S-Severus? But how?" Professor McGonagall demanded.

But Dumbledore shook his head. "Not now. We will discuss it when we find everyone. Where are they.

"The infirmary, a few people sustained some injuries. We've rounded up the Death Eaters that were knocked out in the seventh floor. The dead ones were taken outside, and let me tell you there were quite a few of them," Lupin answered.

"Yup, that's Gaara!" Naruto said almost too cheerfully.

Harry remembered. "What's gaara?"

"Not _what_. Who. Gaara's one of our allies. You'll know why all this isn't a surprise when you see him himself."

"Oh," Harry visualized a towering giant of a man with a club battering everyone that came near him.

When they arrived at the infirmary, they found everyone gathered there.

Naruto tapped Harry's shoulder and pointed at someone off in a corner. "That's Gaara."

Harry was mildly surprised. This Gaara person wasn't that big at all. He was actually kind of short.

Hearing his name, Gaara turned around. "Naruto." He greeted.

Harry rubbed his eyes. That couldn't be right. He looked again. Yes, they were there. Black rims were around the boy's eyes. Maybe it was paint, but then again, it looked very real. He supposed that he might have gotten hexed.

"What are you and Kankuro looking at? And where's Temari?" Naruto asked.

Gaara shifted over to the end of a bed, and a figure was seen laying on it.

"Temari!" Shikamaru ran over to her. "What happened?"


	5. Five

Disclaimer: Sigh, I'm getting tired of typing this but - I do not own Harry Potter or Naruto - for the fifth time.

Thank you for all your reviews!

**snakpak **- More ShikaTem for you this chap. Err, couldn't really do the other pairing. Sorry.

**Peter Kim** - You shall see, you shall see...

**braindrain** - THANK YOU!

**FicSlayr** - Shinobi finding Horcruxes...I was really just going to end the fic at the end and not continue, but seeing how people kike it, I think I might take in that idea.

**moonlight-blossom **- Yeah, it got pretty annoying copying it too, I just didn't want the people who haven't read the sixth book yet to feel lost while they were reading this fic. Thank you for being honest, no offence taken.

A/N: I'm not good with romance, but attempted it for the people out there who requested it. I bit of Shika/Temari and Harry/Hermione. Also, I'm doing a duo author fic with grandmasterpie. He/She (pathetic huh? I dunno what gender they are) did the first chap. It's called Harry Potter and the Rookie Nine or something like that. Hang on, I need to go read it after I post this...Oh yeah, this is my last chapter before I go to school, I don't know when I'll be updating again...sigh.

Chapter Five

She was lying on a bed with her head wrapped in bandages. Although awake, she didn't look that well at all. "Hey," she grinned lightly, then flinched as if it hurt her to talk.

"Who did this to you?" Shikamaru demanded.

"Aww, is the lazy genius wowwied about his wittle gwilfwiend?" Naruto teased.

Shikamaru reddened. "Naruto! She's not my...you-know-what!"

"Oh, really?"

"Really!"

"Then why are you so determined to deny it? If you really _didn't_ have any feelings for her then you wouldn't -"

"Neji! You're not helping! And you never bothered with this business before so don't get involved now!" Shikamaru breathed out a stream of smoke through his nose and replaced his anger with a mask of indifference. "So, how are you, Temari?"

She smirked. "As great as I could be," she rasped out.

"She got hit with those weird thing those people use. Took a lot out of her," Kankuro explained.

"Oh."

Meanwhile, Harry was busy trying to pull Hermione off him while she worriedly explained _everything_ that happened with Ron and her while he was away. Naruto noticed this and walked over.

"So, Harry, who is this beautiful, young lady?" he asked.

Hermione blushed.

"She's a friend of mine," Harry said defensively.

"May I have the pleasure of knowing your name," Naruto asked.

"I-I'm Hermione Granger."

"Naruto!" Neji bellowed.

He jumped. "Uh oh."

Neji stood in front of him, giving him his best death glare. "Are you trying to _two-time my cousin?_"

"O-of course not. I was only asking this_ lovely _lady here her - OW!" Naruto nursed his head.

"Excuse us," Neji dragged Naruto out of the infirmary by his collar.

Harry winced as they heard Neji beat Naruto's stuffing out of him.

"So, is everyone all right?" he asked Hermione.

"Yeah, no one had any serious injuries, except for the Death Eaters that is."

"What's _Malfoy_ doing here?" Ron's face showed his disgust as he saw the blond trying his best not to squirm as Dumbledore interrogated him.

"He's the one who let the Death Eaters in."

"Then why the hell is he here? We should give him to that gourd guy, Gaara, to beat up."

"Dunno, I think Dumbledore's going to hide him."

"You think Dumbledore's gone loony? I mean, if he really did bring in the Death Eaters, he should be thrown in Azkaban or something."

"Ron, I'm sure Professor Dumbledore has his reasons," Hermione defended.

"Hermione, you think a teacher can do no wrong."

"They _can_. Wait until I tell you about what happened to _Snape_." Harry said.

The shinobi, not including Neji and Naruto, looked up as Dumbledore approached him with Malfoy tailing.

"I was wondering, if you could spare any ideas. You see, we need to convince everyone that this boy here is dead, and -"

"Our team was sent only to protect you on your journey. Now that it is over, we will be leaving," Shikamaru interrupted.

"As will ours," Gaara agreed.

"Yes, I realize that, but I don't doubt that your Hokage and Kazekage would mind if I request your assistance for a while longer if I...let's say double your pay? Yes, I shall ask them right now," Dumbledore took out a parchment of paper and scribbled something. He waved his wand and a copy was made. "Fawkes." The phoenix appeared as its name was called. "Please deliver this message to the Hokage and the Kazekage and arrive with their reply."

Shikamaru groaned. That greedy, old woman would agree to whatever he asked for sure if he doubled the pay.

* * *

Tsunade jerked awake as she let out a large sneeze. '_Must be the dust from all these papers._' She yawned. '_My ANBU team should be returning soon. I have the perfect mission for them_.' A devious grin spread across her face. After this mission, they could take a trip out to snow country for a week or so and freeze while guarding a few fisherman. Ah, she love torturing that team.

A burst of fire suddenly appeared and a note was seen. Tsunade quickly skimmed it. Her eyes widened. '_Double pay?_ _The others don't need to know about it, I can just keep the other half to myself...' _The sound of slot machines rang in her ears. _Chaching chaching._ Furiously, she rose up. "HELL YA!" and scribbled exactly what she said on the note.

* * *

Dumbledore didn't know whether to frown or smile as he received the second note. Youngsters these days...such profanity. He turned back to the shinobi.

"Your leaders have agreed to lend me your service. Now, I need your team, Mr. Nara, to head to Narcissa Black's home and bring her here. You will be going by way of portkey. The other team will stay here and help think of a way to make Draco's death believable."

"Let me fill the details to the rest of my team," Shikamaru headed out.

Kankuro looked at the blond. "He could have gotten killed in the crossfire."

Temari rolled her eyes at her brother's stupidity. "No body," her voice was still a bit thin.

"We could use Henge no Jutsu to cover someone else's."

"They might examine the bodies and find out it's not really him." Gaara said.

"Very well, I leave the details up to you, as I am sure you are very experienced in this line of work. Now I must meet with my staff and discuss tonight's happenings." Dumbledore took his leave.

"Professor!" Harry called.

Dumbledore stopped. "Yes, Harry?"

"I'd like to go with Shikamaru and them."

"I can't allow you to do that Harry, it could be dangerous."

"But, Professor, they need someone to be able to bring them back right? I can reverse the portkey when they're done. Please, Professor, I won't get hurt. The guards are very reliable, you saw so yourself. And besides, it may take more that strangers to convince Malfoy's mother, I could do it," he persuaded.

"You and Draco have not been on the best of terms, are you sure?" Dumbledore frowned.

"Yes."

"Very well then."

"Thank you, sir," Harry mentally patted himself on his back and headed to the three ANBU. "I'm going to go with you so we can reverse the portkey and take you back."

"Dumbledore-san allowed you to?" asked Shikamaru.

"Yes."

"Let's go then, where is this portkey?"

* * *

Narcissa anxiously sat on one of the numerous couches in the living room of the manor. The tight, creamy leather was wrinkled from her nervousness. In her hands, a dainty, silk handkerchief was wrung around and twisted until it was crumpled and filled with creases. Her usually fair and calm complexion was twisted from worry. A slender wand rested on her lap, ready for any threat, just in case.

Tonight was the night. Her son was to kill the old fool Dumbledore. How could he do it? He would die for sure. No, Severus promised. He made and Unbreakable Vow, but nevertheless, she could not stop from worrying about her only child.

A sudden noise stole her attention. It sounded as if it came from behind her...She quickly discarded her handkerchief and took her wand. Had she been anyone else, she would have hid behind where she just sat and crawled to spy on the intruders, but she was not anyone else. She was a member of the noble Black family and the wife of Lucius Malfoy. It would be beneath her to crawl on the floor like a common servant. She straightened herself and stood tall, burying her fears and worries for the moment.

"Who's there? Show yourself," her wand was out and she was ready to Avara Kedavra anyone she saw.

"Mrs. Malfoy? We're not here to fight, I swear," the form of that brat Harry Potter showed himself, along with three other strangely dressed people.

Narcissa narrowed her eyes. "What are you doing in my house? You should be aware that you are trespassing on private property. Give me a good reason why I shouldn't kill the four of you where you stand." She heard a snort come from one of the three strangers. Most likely the blond. What atrocious manners they had. Her wand was kept pointed at them.

Harry could feel his wand at his fingertips. He was ready to grasp it if anything happened. He wouldn't put anything past Malfoy's mother. After all, if not from her, who else would he get his behavior from?

"It's Professor Dumbledore, he told us to come and fetch you."

Narcissa felt the color drain from her face. A slight dizziness swept over her. If Dumbledore was still alive...then... Her wand shook as she thought about what could have happened. The initial fear she buried came back full force. But no, Severus had promised. He swore. He couldn't go back on the Vow. The images of the four children in front of her blurred and was replaced with fantasies of what had happened to her child. He could be dead, or captured. The people, they may be here to bargain with her. But what would they want?

The three shinobi sensed her sudden wariness. Shikamaru took a step forward. "Are you feeling well?"

His voice brought her back to the real world. She glared at them and straightened her back. "And what does that old coot want me for?"

Harry seethed with anger. How dare she call Professor Dumbledore that. "Don't call him that! He wants you to go to Hogwarts so you can discuss something with him."

"And what would I want to discuss with him?" she countered. It suddenly occurred to her how indignant it looked to be arguing with a sixteen year-old. "I suggest you leave before I kill you right now."

"Our orders were to bring you to Hogwarts," Shikamaru said.

She threw her most intimidating glare at him, and was angered when he did not show any emotion. Then again, she wouldn't be able to see anyway with that mask on his face.

"You are not meaning, that you will force me to go back, are you?" she pressed her lips together and formed a grim smile. "Because, I will not be-"

"Mrs. Malfoy, Professor Dumbledore wants-" Harry shouted out, irritated at her.

"Do Not -"

"- you to go to Hogwarts -"

"Interrupt-"

"- TO TALK ABOUT WHAT YOU AND YOUR SON WILL DO!"

Narcissa stiffened. The 'me' was lost on her lips. Any furiousness she had felt had drifted and was replaced with shock and confusion.

"What do you mean, 'what will we do'?" she spoke in a dangerously low voice.

"Well, Malfoy let all those Death Eaters in and everything, and now Voldemort's going to hunt him, and you down because Professor Dumbledore's still alive, right?"

She flinched when he said the name. "Why would I need to hide? I'm safe enough right here."

"I don't know what delusion you're living in, but it certainly has got you fooled! In case you haven't noticed, we got in perfectly fine, without your knowledge. What's to prevent a few of your little Death Eater friends from apparating here and finishing you off?"

As much as she hated to admit it, if what the boy said was true, then she was in danger. But was this real? Or was it a trick of the crack pot fool to get her to go to Hogwarts where he could easily do away with her? Somehow, she didn't think he could do that.

"Very well, I will go to Hogwarts and speak to that senile, old fool, but be warned. If things are not to my liking, I'm leaving."

Harry tried his best to ignore her comment about Dumbledore. "Okay, then, let's go."

"Not yet," Neji said.

"What now?" Narcissa asked, annoyed.

"We need it to make like we killed you."

The three shinobi went around the room knocking down various items and messing up the rugs.

"Not that!" Narcissa cried. "That is a family heirloom!"

"Sorry, too late." A loud crash echoed, as Naruto pushed an ancient looking vase over. His face was plastered with a large grin.

Narcissa let out a cry of dismay as the shinobi did their work. "Let's just go now!"

Shikamaru observed the now disorganized room and nodded. "Okay."

Harry took out a large quill, the portkey they had used and tapped it with his wand. "That should take us back."

They touched it and were transported to the large front gates of Hogwarts.

"Everyone's probably at the infirmary," Harry said.

The five headed to their destination in silence. When they arrived, they heard a something going on inside. Harry knocked on the door. Hermione opened it and gestured them in.

Narcissa let out a cry of dismay. In the air was a head. The pale face and platinum-blond hair was unmistakable. A trail of blood was hanging from it. It was too much. Her son's head was hanging right there before her eyes. She fainted.


	6. Six

Disclaimer: Harry Potter y Naruto no es de mi. Is that right?

Thank you to anyone who reviewed! Replies(is it true I'm not allowed to do this?)

**BlackFeatherz29** - Sadly, Sasuke is not in this fic. However, if I make a sequel, he and Orochimaru will probably be in it.

**s-sama** - Yeah, I agree that this fic is way too rushed. My other fic, Bloodlines and Demons is at a much slower pace though, so it may be better to your likeing.

**Moonraker One** - You are my HERO! Thanks for the tip. I agree with everything you said!

**Peter Kim** - Akatsuki, Sound and co. won't be appearing in this fic, however, I'll take it into account when I make the -maybe- sequel. As for Draco's death, you'll find out here.

A/N: Yes, I'm alive people and I'm SO sorry for the long wait. Please don't start shooting me with a bunch of kunai – I have an excuse! A really good one! You see, school has been really hectic. I mean reeeaaaaally hectic. I have around _at least _4-5 tests and quizzes a week. It's so stressful. There's been nothing for me but memorizing and writing. I have to do anywhere from 15-30 essays a chapter in one of my classes and then read and annotate several books at a time for English. That riddled with tennis tryouts, high fever, fatigue, and writer's block left any ideas I had for any stories lying dormant in the back of my head. I can't even enjoy winter break 'cause of my winter homework! (i.e. two 2-3 page essays, then 18 mini-essays on a history chapter with a packet of terms and outlines that I have to fill out and memorize, read a book and do a project on it, read another book and annotate half of it all the while doing around 50 vocab words, then be tested on everything when I get back in school which is. . . let's see, in 5 days! What's more! I'm not exaggerating! I really wish I was!)

**I'm – not – back in business, but I managed to scribble out the last chapter to this pathetic excuse of a story, though there may be a sequel.** Also, the prologue to my future fic, _Arisen_, is at the end of the chapter. Originally, I was planning to start it next summer, but now I'm not sure if it's possible since I need to work on _Bloodlines and Demons_ which will be a long multi-chapter fic. **Anyway, enough of my rambling and on with the final chapter(which by the way is filled with sarcasm)!**

Chapter Six

"Mum?"

Narcissa moaned as she stirred from unconsciousness. She opened her eyes and found her son staring at her. "You're alive!" she cried, as she grabbed and squeezed him, forgetting her so- called dignity.

"Arg, let go of me!"

Behind him, Harry snickered, along with Ron and Hermione.

"Your head -"

At that moment, Dumbledore chose to enter the room. "Ah, you're awake now, Narcissa! Well, we can't really have you dawdling on that bed all day now. We have things to do, things to discuss, and we really must hurry before those pesky investigators come not don't we? Now, come along, chop chop." He promptly left the room, leaving a dazed Narcissa, who was red from being treated like a child, and son to follow.

"Hey, Gaara, that was pretty sweet. Who thought of molding your sand into that kid's head anyway?" Naruto asked.

"That would be me," said Temari proudly in the bed. "I'm the only one with enough brains to think of it. And don't look at me that way Gaara! It's true! Anyway, we used Kankuro's red make-up to paint on the blood."

The said Kankuro was busily sulking in a corner. "It's not make-up! It's a warrior's face paint!"

"Yeah, what ever. Then some of those people made some weird jutsu with their sticks to make it look real. All in all, I think we did a pretty good job."

"So _now_ is our mission done?" Naruto whined.

Meanwhile, the golden trio busily poked and prodded the newly made Draco Malfoy styled sand-head!

"It really is realistic isn't it? But I don't think it can really undergo an inspection from the Mi-"

"I want to give it a black eye! Let's see, should I punch the right or the left. . ."

"Ron! You'd crack your hand doing that! It's half-hardened sand!"

"You ruin everything, Hermoine."

And now, as we refer back to our shinobi, we find them seriously, well, not _that_ seriously, debating their means of returning home.

"I say we just bail. The mission's over, and I need my ten bowls of evening ramen. I get cranky without it."

"We should tell the old man first."

"No way! He's gonna keep us here to do more stuff! Your idea stinks, Gaara!"

Gaara narrowed his eyes at Naruto.

"Err, I didn't mean it that way. What I meant is that it's kind of, err, um, in. . .efficient! Yes, inefficient!" He nodded all-knowingly, proud of his so-called save.

"He's right, Naruto. We don't know how to get back home. We came by that porkytea thing, remember?" Neji was oblivious to the fact that it was portkey not porkytea.

Luckily, Shikamaru was there. "I believe the term is portkey. But I agree with Neji and Gaara."

"Hn." Neji put on a mask of indifference over his blunder.

"Okay then. We're going to see the old man and demand our leave!" Kankuro triumphantly recovered from his sulking and finalized the decision. "Besides, we should get Temari to a medic nin – even if she did ruin my face-paint."

Just as the five were heading toward the door, a crash sounded.

"Oops," Ron muttered meekly.

"We didn't mean to. We just wanted to know if it really was hardened sand, err, glass."

"Guess you'll have to make another one. . ."

Gaara's left eye twitched. '_My sand. . ._'

Kankuro didn't know whether to cry or kill. '_The last of my red face paint. . ._'

(30 minutes later)

"Okay, we're leaving now!" Naruto yelled.

"Don't forget to come back for me once you get that portkey," Temari warned.

"How could we forget you?" Shikamaru asked.

The group left for Dumbledore's office and saw the mother and child pair heading off with a strange person resembling a wolf. They exchanged glances and shrugged. After they went to the office, they asked for a portkey to take them back.

"Oh, yes, let me make one right now."

They were all surprised at his promptness. It was expected that he would stall for more time and make a myriad of excuses to delay their return home.

"Of course-"

'_Uh oh_,' they all thought.

"-I'm looking forward to calling on your services again soon. I'll be needing your help with the remaining Horcruxes."

The five, with the exception of Gaara, all half-heartedly gave polite answers of how they would _love_ to help out again anytime.

"All right! I've held you up long enough. I'm sure you're all quite busy, having such a high ranking and all. Here is your portkey."

"Thank you, Dumbledore-san," Shikamaru muttered.

"No, no. Thank _you_, and good-bye."

And so, the five all joyously touched the key and were instantly vacuumed to the border between Fire and Wind Country, unaware of the tasks that their rotten Kage was going to give them next.

"Hm," Dumbledore mused to himself, "I could have sworn there were six of them."

Back between the borders, them boys looked at each other, trying to figure out what they had forgotten. Suddenly, Shikamaru sensed a dark aura that sent shivers down his spine. "Aw, shi-"

:Hogwarts:

"Shikamaru. . ." Temari gritted dangerously in her hospital bed.

:Border:

"We forgot Temari!"

The End - See prologue to _Arisen_ below

A/N: There might be a sequel to this, if I have the time, but even if there is one, it won't be out for a long, long while. I know this entire fic was really rushed which ruined its quality so I apologize for that. And here's my prologue to _Arisen_. It takes place after HBP and is purely Harry Potter. If you can, I would appreciate any help finding a new title similar to Arisen since I think someone else has a fic with the same name. Thanks to any helpers!

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter!

Arisen by chairomori

Prologue

A figure made its way in the dead of night towards a pure white tomb. It tapped the tomb with a wand and whispered, "_Wingardium Leviosa._" The cover flew open and revealed a tall old man with a long, silvery beard and hair. He seemed rather peaceful lying there. The figure waved its wand over the corpse and began an incantation:

"_Lying here in eternal sleep,_

_Gone to the enemy who seeks._

_The time is now_

_To rise once more._

_Let my voice carry you from death's shore._

_Arise, awaken,_

_The time is now_

_To break sleeps slippery vow_."

The man in the tomb slowly stirred. He opened his eyes. The sparkling blue shone against black night. Steadily, he sat up and made a small leap from the tomb.

"Professor Dumbledore." A thin, weak voice made itself known.

"Ah, Professor! You're here. Tell me, how long have I been, shall I say 'dead'?" asked Dumbledore, in a jolly manner as if he had never been in the tomb.

"A week."

"A week. That was an excellent job he did wasn't it?"

"Yes, it was_. Wingardium Leviosa_." The lid flew back in place. "I think it would be wise to leave before we are caught."

"Indeed."

The two figures stealthily made their way towards a giant castle.

End Prologue 

Please R&R!


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